


Nagare

by Kharon



Series: Red [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Future Fic, Gen, Konoha Village, Next Generation, Post-Canon, Second Shinobi War, Suna Village, Uchiha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 19:24:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10703517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kharon/pseuds/Kharon
Summary: They meet in Nagare.He was born and raised in Suna, the son of the Kazekage, but his motherwasa Konoha kunoichi, and he doesn't know how to feel about meeting there of all places. It's the place of one of Konoha's greatest triumphs, but also the place where Suna lost the Second Shinobi World War.





	Nagare

**Author's Note:**

> To avoid confusion I'd like to remind you that this story plays 55 years after the beginning of the manga. The children from the "Next Generation" already have kids of their own and most of the original characters (being ninja) have died by this point.

They meet in Nagare.

He was born and raised in Suna, the son of the Kazekage, but his mother _was_ a Konoha kunoichi, and he doesn't know how to feel about meeting there of all places. It's the place of one of Konoha's greatest triumphs, but also the place where Suna lost the Second Shinobi World War.

The version of _The War Diary_ they sent him is worn and the pages rough beneath his fingers. Akashi doesn't know much about the history of the book itself, but even his knowledge is enough to assume that this is one of the oldest copies, the ones sold inside in Konoha only, years before the book was published all over the elemental nations.

It's… disconcerting.

Akashi heard the story before of course, as every shinobi worth their salt has, but it's different actually reading it. The names aren't swapped in this copy, they a real, _real people_ , living through all the loss, the pain, the suffering, and still they endure, they love, they pray, they hold funerals for the dead, sing their songs, remember the comrades they lost every day of the 445 the siege of Nagare lasted.

He cries when Kuro dies, cries like he hasn't cried since the day his mother died. He wishes for Astuko to find her civilian boy in Konoha, for Masato to be able to be with Kazue, and for Katsu to finally go home and meet his son, even though all of it happened more than 80 years ago.

 _Unbending_ , other shinobi call the Konoha ninja – a credit not easily given in their profession. They call if _Will of Fire_.

Somewhere between the two lies a truth he recognizes for himself now. It's a flame that burns brighter in adversary, that is kindled by hope and that endures through pain and hardship.

 _This is the inheritance Konohagakure gave me_ , he thinks and remembers the bright, glowing green eyes of his mother.

There is no civil war in the land of rivers, for their richest, most influential people are not _daimyou_ but merchants. The region has been thriving since before they were their own country, when Tanigakure was still a small village called Suigen, the last outpost of civilization before the big desert.

In Nagare they remember. It were shinobi who build their town, who made the marshes habitable for generations of civilians to come, but it was also shinobi who brought war to the region, who were the reason their tiny riverside villages were destroyed and they had to move to Nagare in the first place.

Of course the people know who Akashi is; it's not hard to recognize him when he is walking bare-chested through the streets at midday. He however is not the one who needs to hide his presence. Let them know that he is here, let his sister know that he isn't scared to show his face, let all of the people watching him know that he will fight and the resistance with him.

His tattoo draws many eyes, but while most of them are critical, only few are outright hostile. Trade with Suna has been on the decline since their weavers and stonecutters, the shepherds and few farmers they have refuse to pay tribute to the daimyou of wind country any longer.

They feel it here, where most luxury goods and even some essential ones have to be imported.

Akashi doesn't see them suffering – _yet_ – but if there is war in either Suna, Konoha or both they will suffer as well, even if there won't be any actual battles on their land this time.

A man is standing guard at the side entrance of _The Dragon_ , one of the oldest bars in town, build on what is said to once have been the ground the tent of Nagare's commander had stood on. Nobody knows if it's true of course, but the story sells.

"Quiet," he's told when he's brusquely ushered inside the building. The corridor is small and dark, but thankfully less humid than the air outside. It's only late spring, but the weather in Nagare is already close to unbearable to him, a man who grew up in the dry heat of Sunagakure.

Up a flight of stairs, past some doors, down another set of stairs, then to the right, to the left and to the left again he steps into an inner courtyard, shielded from the sun by huge, white cloths of linen and filled with the smell of flowers.

The man escorting him has left before his eyes have adjusted to the light properly, his steps fading away towards the opposite direction they came from.

Three people are sitting around a table in the middle of the courtyard, and they rise once he moves closer. The two men are obviously twins, their hair as blood red has Akane's, who is standing back when he steps up to who he assumes are her father and uncle.

"Akashi of the Sand," he introduces himself with the hint of a formal bow.

"Uchiha Kichiro," the man with the longer, shaggy hair replies and then motions towards his twin, "And this is my brother, Uchiha Kizuna."

Kizuna bows, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips when he takes in Akashi's tattooed chest, muscular arms and Suna-style pants – he looks more a farmer a than a ninja, Akashi is very well aware of that.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," the Uchiha says, amusement shining in his dark eyes.

They exchange a look, the brothers, one he can't read but doesn't have to as Kichiro indicates for him to take a seat. There's a jug of _tainted water_ on the table, a specialty of the local marshes made from various herbs growing at the riversides, and he doesn't hesitate to pour himself a cup.

He sinks down into the last empty chair and raises his drink to the youngest Uchiha, who has yet to utter a word, "Well met, little red. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Sasori," is all she replies. There is the same look of faint distrust on her face he can see on Uchiha Kichiro, and he wonders.

"She's mine," Kizuna replies to his unvoiced question, laughing at Akashi's incredulous lifting of an eyebrow, "Half my village doubts my claim however, since there is no way to tell one twin from the other in the dark of the night, right?"

"Kizuna," his brother hisses, clearly displeased but also sounding quite like he hasn't expected anything else, "I really wish you wouldn't."

A moment of awkward silence follows, but Akashi can see Akane rolling her eyes behind her father's back. The occurrence seems to be common enough in the Uchiha clan to generate that kind of response.

"I think this is yours," he announces, breaking the tension, and puts _The War Diary_ down on the table between them, "It's one of the first copies, isn't it?"

Kizuna reaches out to carefully pick up the worn book. He studies it for a moment, and then bites his thumb quietly and presses it to a hidden seal in the spine. The books vanishes in a small cloud of smoke.

"You could say so, yes," he answers slowly, "Uchiha Masato was the brother of my great-grandfather. His is one of the three copies Shiranui Katsu wrote himself, and the Uchiha family still treasures it."

His tone is guarded, and Akashi immediately wonders whose secret it is he is hiding, and for what purpose. Kichiro's face his blank however, and Akane's glare determined. It was her that gave it to him as a token, a testimony to show that he hasn't send an imposter, hasn't tried to double-cross them in the game of treason they are preparing to play.

"So whose book was this, then?" he asks, leaning back and crossing his arms behind his head, flaunting a confidence that is half show.

Akane makes a pleased hum. Kizuna grins. Kichiro is still unreadable, but his posture loosens as pitch black eyes scrutinize Akashi – the brother's eyes are a shade darker than he girl's, he notices.

"My wife's," Kizuna tells him.

It doesn't answer anything simply because this is a part of the puzzle he is still missing. The young him would have pounced at the challenge, would have sunken his teeth into this petty detail and lost track of the important things in the process. _Sasori_ , however, knows better.

"We have a coup d'etat to plan," he says instead and is rewarded with the looks of all three Uchiha turning somber once more.

"Two, you mean," Kizuna corrects him, and Akashi would love to agree, would be happy to hand over the burden he carries, to give in to the guilt and the shame and let an Uchiha slit his sister's throat in the dead of the night.

 _Akaya. His sister…_ that's why he can't, because she is his and what happened is as much his fault as it is hers.

He will need their help to overthrow the _daimyou_ , to bring order back into his country, but the real fight is one they can't help him with. It will be him and her, Sasori against the Kazekage, and if he loses he doesn't know if there will be enough left of the resistance to change the fate of wind country.

"About that…"

**Author's Note:**

>  _Nagare_ means "stream, river" as the rivers nearby are what gave the town it's name, but it can also mean "descendant, ancestry" so it makes for a fun double meaning.
> 
> All the places and characters mentioned from the Second World War period completely stem from my headcanon and don't exist in the manga.


End file.
